The original icon, which this copy of the Hodegetria or Directress style icon was made from, is one of the icons that is attributed to the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, the very first iconographer. That icon was sent to Antioch, then was taken to Jerusalem, and in the 5th century was brought to Constantinople, the seat of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. In a.d. 1383 that icon disappeared from the Queen City of Constantinople and was seen soon afterwards by fishermen of Lake Ladoga in Russia/ Finland floating through the air and surrounded with light. During the next century it moved on its own accord to many places, the faithful building chapels wherever it came to rest.

Finally in 1510 it came to rest at Tikhvin where a church was built and many people started coming to venerate it. Many of the sick, especially children, were cured of their diseases before this icon. She is also celebrated for saving the lives of twenty workmen who were buried under stones during the building of the church, and for preserving the monastery built around this church from invading armies. This Russian copy is made in egg-tempera.